Tafsir of Muhammad 47:2

"And those who believed and did righteous deeds." Ibn Abbas said, in what was narrated from him by a group including al-Hakim, who authenticated it, that they are the people of Medina, the Ansar; and he, may Allah be pleased with him, interpreted "those who disbelieved" as the people of Mecca, the Quraysh. Muqatil said: They are people from the Quraysh. It was also said: They are the believers of the People of the Book. It was further said: They are more general than those mentioned and others, for the relative pronoun is one of the forms of generality, and there is no impetus for specification.

"And believed in what was sent down upon Muhammad" — that is, the Quran. Believing in this is specifically mentioned, despite it being included in the previous statement, to highlight its status and to draw attention to its lofty position among all that must be believed in, and that it is the foundation of everything. For this reason, it is emphasized by His saying, the Exalted: "And it is the truth from their Lord." It is an interjected sentence between the subject and the predicate, serving to restrict the quality of truthfulness to it, in the manner of the restriction in His saying: "That is the Book," and your saying: "Hatim is the generous one." By "the truth," it is intended the opposite of falsehood. It is also permitted that the restriction is to be taken literally, and the truth is that which is established. The truthfulness of what was sent down upon him—upon him be prayer and peace—is due to it being a superseding revelation that is not superseded; this necessitates giving it attention, and hence the emphasis. In any case, His saying, the Exalted, "from their Lord" is a circumstantial state from the pronoun in "the truth." Zayd ibn Ali and Ibn Miqsam read nuzzila (was sent down) in the active voice; al-A'mash read unzila (was sent down) as a causative verb with the hamza, in the passive voice. It was also read anzala (He sent down) with a hamza, in the active voice, and nazzala (He sent down) with the reduction (takhfif).

"He removed from them their misdeeds" — that is, He covered them through faith and righteous deeds. The intended meaning is that He forgave them and did not hold them accountable for them.

"And set right their state" — that is, their condition in religion and the world through divine guidance and support. The interpretation of al-bal (the state/mind) as al-hal (the condition) is narrated from Qatada. From him also is its interpretation as al-sha'n (the affair), which is also the condition, or that which has significance. Upon this is the statement of al-Raghib: Al-bal is the state that one cares about; for this reason, it is said: "I did not care for such-and-such balatan," meaning I did not pay it heed. From this is His saying, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: "Every matter of significance..." (the hadith). It can also mean the internal thought, and it is used metaphorically for the heart, as al-Shihab said. In al-Bahr, it states: The reality of al-bal is the thought and the place where a person's focus lies, which is the heart. Whoever has their heart set right, their condition is set right; as if the word points to the righteousness of their creed, and all other conditions follow it. It was narrated from al-Safaqsi that he interpreted it here as "thought," and it is as if he aimed for what was indicated. It is also, as in al-Bahr, a word that is neither dualized nor pluralized, and their saying in its pluralization balat is anomalous.